Microsoft Accused Of Buying Manufacturer Support For Windows Phone

Michael Moore joined TechWeek Europe in January 2014 as a trainee before graduating to Reporter later that year. He covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to mobile devices, wearable tech, the Internet of Things, and financial technology.

Microsoft has denied claims that it pays OEMs millions of dollars to produce devices supporting its Windows Phone OS

Microsoft has allegedly paid big money to several leading mobile OEMs in order to secure support for its burgeoning Windows Phone 8 OS.

In a Tweet, blogger Eldar Murtazin claimed that OEMs that were returning to work with Windows Phone this year would receive healthy recompense from Microsoft in exchange for their support.

Murtazin named three companies which would be working with Windows Phone 8 in 2014, with Samsung apparently taking $1.2 billion to develop just one handset. He also stated that Huawei will receive $0.6 billion, Sony $0.5 billion, and unspecified ‘others’ will get $0.3 billion, all for ‘support’ to produce a single device.

Microsoft has denied the claim.

Growing support

Support for Windows Phone has been a subject of much speculation for the mobile industry in recent weeks, as Nokia’s virtual monopoly on the three-year old OS is apparently crumbling from both sides of the arrangement. Sony, one of the OEMs named by Murtazin in his tweet, is apparently developing a Windows Phone, as Microsoft looks to attract new partners by cutting software licensing fees.

Nokia has also shown signs that it is looking to diversify its product offerings, with the company apparently in advanced development of an Android-powered device, codenamed ‘Normandy’, which may be seeing the light of day soon, although he Finnish manufacturer is also in the process of selling its handset business to Microsoft.

The company is also looking to spur on development for its Windows Phone OS, with a study by Strategy Analytics predicting that the number of developers building applications for the platform is expected to double in 2014. Thirty-two percent of developers polled said they plan to support Windows Phone next year, double the 16 percent who said they supported Windows Phone in 2013. With Windows Phone lagging far behind iOS and Android, Microsoft will be looking to close the gap and expand the influence of its mobile platform.

Whoever takes over as the company’s new CEO later this year will surely be looking to ensure the growth of the Windows Phone OS ecosystem, as the company seeks to move further into the mobile market.

Update: many thanks to those who alerted us to the following tweet from Microsoft’s Frank X Shaw, denying the claims

reality check. Do we do co-marketing with partners? You bet! But these numbers are complete fiction! http://t.co/Hfq7dtk9u1